9. Go Forth and Matter

We want to thank you for having taken this journey with us for the last couple of hundred pages. We hope that it has been an enlightening experience for you, and that it has helped you understand how great design can take your enterprise to new levels.

We’d like to conclude this offering of ideas and examples by presenting an overarching context. Why does design really matter? Why should you take on the difficult task of re-engineering your company to become design driven? We’ve shown you examples of how a handful of companies have used design to create enormous success for their business, but what really is the root of the reason of why design could take them there? Well, we believe that there is a higher-level idea that drives all of this.

Over the years, we have found ourselves in conversations organized around the question, "what is it that people really want out of life?." Marketers ask this question and promote their answers. So do psychologists. Theologians of course claim to know. And more than a few of the rest of us seek our own answers every day. It is a complex question, pondered for centuries by individuals and groups more qualified to offer answers than the authors of this book.

This said, however, we do think we know the answer to that question. Or at least an answer that matters to your business. This answer has been given thematically throughout this book. It has been implicit, but now we would now like to explicitly propose it: People are seeking a great experience of being alive.

Although some folks seem to go about the seeking in mysterious and even bizarre ways, we nevertheless stand by this idea and the idea that follows: Human beings do whatever they do based upon an expectation that their experience will be the better for it. We work and strive to improve our lives for our families and ourselves. We want to make positive use of our time, to accomplish things large and small, to enjoy life and to relax. We want to make every day we can meaningful. And we want to enjoy the ride.

Ask yourself if this seems true. We think you will agree. Humans strive to improve their situation with the ultimate goal of ongoing happiness and joy in their lives. Everything we do, difficult or easy, fun or painful, has something to do with having a better experience of being alive. We want this for us, our loved ones, and on some level for society at large. And along the road traveled, we want to make the actual traveling the best it can be.

Consequently, when it comes to design, you need to start with the design of a superior human experience in your product or service category. What this means is to always consider the human element as primary. And within this to recognize the emotional impact of what you are offering. This seems obvious, but actually it is difficult because of a common paradox: In business, we tend to shy away from most things emotional. We’d prefer to rationalize, measure, process, and systematize. Ironically, we tend to put faith in things that are decidedly not humanistic: Science. Math. Machines. When the going gets gray, we sprint for black or white.

But to be great at design, you need to embrace the human condition and recognize that when it’s all said and done, this is what will serve you the best. Getting back to that universal question of what do we all want from life, you need to understand that the experience we have of the things and places we spend our time with must be compelling. We want things that are engaging, fun, personal, useful, productive, and desirable. And emotionally rewarding.

For a CEO, or Chairman of the Board, all of this takes a great leap of faith. You will need to put design in the forefront. What? You are asking me to put the blueprint for our company’s future in the hands of a bunch of art school grads? We say yes. Because these designers are the people who will help you understand the human element in your market and come up with the ways to delight and satisfy what are often unarticulated needs. And as we’ve said, they cannot do it alone. They need your help even as you need theirs. Listen to them. They are the ones who are in touch with human emotion, need, and desire, and who can translate all this into a compelling business proposition. They will be the ones to help you matter.

In closing, we have covered a wide variety of material in this book, and have offered diverse examples of success and failure to illustrate our position. It is all important. If nothing else, we’d like you to walk away with three important ideas. If you build these ideas into your business and remind yourself of them daily, you are taking the first steps to becoming a design-driven company—one that matters and that people might grow to love.

1. Design matters

• Great design is the best means of building an indirect relationship with your customers and creating value in their lives. It is how you will connect with them.
• It is about a broader experience that includes nearly everything about you, your products, and services that your customer comes in contact with. We call this the customer experience supply chain.
• It is emotional in nature and must be built with this in mind. Do not shy away from this.
• It should be an authentic yet compelling proposition. Do not try to be someone who you are not. Be who you are, and be a good one.
• Design should be treated as a top strategic element of your business. Few things are more important.

2. Design is a process, not an event

• Design thinking and process needs to be embedded in everything you do. And happen on a daily basis. You need to live it and believe in it. You need to manage it.
• Design is the responsibility of all. It is not just the job of the designer to put out great design. Great design is everybody’s job. Top to bottom, end to end.
• The customer experience supply chain needs to be defined, staffed, led, and managed constantly. It is the lifeblood of your customer’s experience—what your customers will see, touch, hear, smell, and feel from you.
• This all requires vision, diligence, and discipline. See point 3 below.

3. If it was easy, everybody would do it

• It takes significant cultural change to be design driven. You will need to shake up your company top to bottom. Be prepared to find antibodies in your corporate system. Fight them and push onward.
• Doing great design takes time. This is tough in today’s world where everything keeps accelerating. But it has to be done right, and this takes time.
• You have to be willing to do the hard work. The best customer solution is often the most difficult to develop and implement. But this has to be your focus. It will get easier after the first few times.
• You will make mistakes. No doubt. This happens to everybody, including Apple! Just learn from them and get better.
• It takes money. No way around it.
• You have to have faith and commitment. The first time it blows up, don’t give up. Stick with it. It will work eventually.
• Trust your gut and understanding of the human condition. After all, you’re human too—aren’t you?

We wish you and your customers the very best of times. It really is all about the experience, and great experience, while often serendipitous, is predictably provided by great design. Do this well, and people will be most inclined to love you and your company. You will matter.